Tamil Nadu Minister claims lies about Jayalalithaa’s death

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan has made a shocking claim that all AIADMK ministers wove a web of lies around the health condition and followups of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, when she was in hospital last year.

Jayalalithaa was declared dead on December 5 last year after an uncertainty-filled 75 days in Apollo Hospitals. She was hospitalised on September 22, after she collapsed due to respiratory distress at her Poes Garden residence.

“The claims made by us that she ate idlis in hospital were a total lie, because none of the ministers were allowed to meet her in the hospital and none of us knew the reality,” Sreenivasan said addressing a public meeting on Friday night.

The AIADMK minister apologised for lying on Jayalalithaa’s health condition.

“There were several leaders who visited the hospital, but all of them were allowed only up to the first floor. Beyond that no one was allowed. All were made to sit on chairs or on the floor and after a chat left. Nobody saw Amma,” claimed Sreenivasan.